Buttock cleavage

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Photograph by Julien Vallou de Villeneuve (1854) Study naked no1906 Villeneuve-164.jpg
Photograph by Julien Vallou de Villeneuve (1854)

Buttock cleavage is minor exposure of the buttocks and the intergluteal cleft between them, often because of low-rise pants.

Contents

History

When faced with indecency issues back in the 1930s, W. G. Cassidy explained in an essay titled "Private Parts: A judicial view" that exposure of a buttock cleavage may come under "other private parts" in Australian law, though indecency generally involves exposure of the genital area. [1]

In the early 2000s, it became fashionable for young women and men to expose their buttocks this way, often while wearing low-rise jeans. [2] [3] The Cincinnati Enquirer called it the "new cleavage", and expressed views that "It's virtually impossible to find jeans to cover your hipbone". [4] In August 2001, The Sun celebrated a "bum cleavage week". [5]

Jeffreys (2005) identified British designer Alexander McQueen as the originator of buttock cleavage-revealing jeans, known as the "bumster". [6]

In 2013, Cosmopolitan said that ultra-short miniskirts and shorts exposing the lower buttocks had gained popularity among women, influenced by celebrities such as Lady Gaga. [7]

Lexicon

The terms plumber butt or plumber's crack (Canadian, Australian, and American English) and builder's bum (British English) refer to the exposure of the buttock cleavage. The expression "builder's bum" was first recorded in 1988. The terms are based on the popular impression that work in these professions frequently involves bending over in locations where bystanders are observing from the rear. [8]

In the Netherlands the term bouwvakkersdecolleté and in Germany Maurerdekolleté and in Poland dekolt hydraulika is used, which can be translated as "builder's/mason's/plumber's cleavage". In France, it is usually referred to as le sourire du plombier, which literally translates to "the plumber's smile". [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indecent exposure</span> Public indecency involving nudity

Indecent exposure is the deliberate public exposure by a person of a portion of their body in a manner contrary to local standards of appropriate behavior. Laws and social attitudes regarding indecent exposure vary significantly in different countries. It ranges from outright prohibition of the exposure of any body parts other than the hands or face to prohibition of exposure of certain body parts, such as the genital area, buttocks or breasts.

An intimate part, personal part or private part is a place on the human body which is customarily kept covered by clothing in public venues and conventional settings, as a matter of fashion and cultural norms. Depending on the culture, revealing these parts can be a legal or religious offense.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Exhibitionism</span> Public exposure of intimate body parts

Exhibitionism is the act of exposing in a public or semi-public context one's intimate parts – for example, the breasts, genitals or buttocks. As used in psychology and psychiatry, it is substantially different. It refers to an uncontrollable urge to exhibit one's genitals to an unsuspecting stranger, and is called an "Exhibitionistic Disorder" rather than simply exhibitionism. It is an obsessive compulsive paraphilic disorder, which typically involves men exposing themselves to women. It is considered a psychiatric disorder. Such patients need psychological/psychiatric treatment.

Rear of the Year was a British award for celebrities who were considered to have attractive buttocks. It was created by publicity consultant Anthony Edwards in 1976. Initially, it was awarded only to women, but in 1986 the first award was made to a man and from 1997, it was awarded annually to one woman and one man.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Breast fetishism</span> Sexual interest focused on female breasts

As a paraphilia, breast fetishism is a sexual interest that focuses exclusively on the female breasts, and is a type of partialism. The term breast fetishism is also used in the non-paraphilic sense, to refer to cultural attention to female breasts and the sexuality they represent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cleavage (breasts)</span> Separation between human breasts

Cleavage is the narrow depression or hollow between the breasts of a woman. The superior portion of cleavage may be accentuated by clothing such as a low-cut neckline that exposes the division, and often the term is used to describe the low neckline itself, instead of the term décolletage. Joseph Breen, head of the U.S. film industry's Production Code Administration, coined the term in its current meaning when evaluating the 1943 film The Outlaw, starring Jane Russell. The term was explained in Time magazine on August 5, 1946. It is most commonly used in the parlance of Western female fashion to refer to necklines that reveal or emphasize décolletage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buttock augmentation</span> Cosmetic and corrective surgery

Gluteoplasty denotes the plastic surgery and the liposuction procedures for the correction of congenital, traumatic, and acquired defects/deformities of the buttocks and the anatomy of the gluteal region; and for the aesthetic enhancement of the contour of the buttocks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sagging (fashion)</span> Manner of wearing pants

Sagging is a manner of wearing trousers that sag so that the top of the trousers or jeans is significantly below the waist, sometimes revealing much of the wearer's underpants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whale tail</span> Part of a thong or G-string

Whale tail is the Y-shaped rear portion of a thong or G-string when visible above the waistline of low-rise pants, shorts, or skirts that resembles a whale's tail. The fashion was popular in the early 2000s and waned within the decade, but has become more fashionable in recent years.

Clothing laws vary considerably around the world. In most countries, there are no laws which prescribe what clothing is required to be worn. However, the community standards of clothing are set indirectly by way of prosecution of those who wear something that is not socially approved. Those people who wear insufficient clothing can be prosecuted in many countries under various offences termed indecent exposure, public indecency, nudity or other descriptions. Generally, these offences do not themselves define what is and what is not acceptable clothing to constitute the offence, and leave it to a judge to determine in each case.

Etiquette in Europe is not uniform. Even within the regions of Europe, etiquette may not be uniform: within a single country there may be differences in customs, especially where there are different linguistic groups, as in Switzerland where there are French, German and Italian speakers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruth Lyons (broadcaster)</span> American broadcaster

Ruth Lyons was a pioneer radio and television broadcaster in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is said Ruth Lyons accidentally invented the daytime TV talk show. Like Arthur Godfrey and others of the era, Lyons built a TV empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buttocks</span> Anatomical feature on the posterior of some primates

The buttocks are two rounded portions of the exterior anatomy of most mammals, located on the posterior of the pelvic region. In humans, the buttocks are located between the lower back and the perineum. They are composed of a layer of exterior skin and underlying subcutaneous fat superimposed on a left and right gluteus maximus and gluteus medius muscles. The two gluteus maximus muscles are the largest muscles in the human body. They are responsible for movements such as straightening the body into the upright (standing) posture when it is bent at the waist; maintaining the body in the upright posture by keeping the hip joints extended; and propelling the body forward via further leg (hip) extension when walking or running.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mooning</span> Display of the buttocks

Mooning is the act of displaying one's bare buttocks by removing clothing, e.g., by lowering the backside of one's trousers and underpants, usually bending over, and also potentially exposing the genitals. Mooning is used in the English-speaking world to express protest, scorn, disrespect, or for provocation, but mooning can be done for shock value, for fun, as a joke or as a form of exhibitionism. The Māori have a form of mooning known as whakapohane that is a form of insult.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Judicial corporal punishment</span> Punitive practice

Judicial corporal punishment is the infliction of corporal punishment as a result of a sentence imposed on an offender by a court of law, including flagellation, forced amputations, caning, bastinado, birching, or strapping. Legal corporal punishment is forbidden in most countries, but it still is a form of legal punishment practiced according to the legislations of Brunei, Iran, Libya, the Maldives, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen, and Qatar, as well as parts of Indonesia and Nigeria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Low-rise (fashion)</span> Clothing which sits low on or below the hips

Low-rise is a style of clothing designed to sit low on, or below, the hips. The style has also been called lowcut, hipster, bumster, or hip-hugger, and can apply to garments worn by all genders. The term can be applied to all garments that cover the wearer's crotch area, including trousers, jeans, shorts, skirts, panties, briefs, bikinis, pantyhose, and tights.

Lascivious behavior is sexual behavior or conduct that is considered crude and offensive, or contrary to local moral or other standards of appropriate behavior. In this sense, "lascivious" is similar in meaning to "lewd", "indecent", "lecherous", "unchaste", "licentious", "libidinous" or "lustful".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miss Bumbum</span> Brazilian beauty pageant

Miss Bumbum is an annual beauty pageant held in Brazil to reward the owner of the best buttocks in the country. Created by journalist and entrepreneur Cacau Oliver, the competition has 27 contestants, each of whom represents one of the country's 27 states. The winner receives 50,000 Brazilian reais in endorsement deals, and instantly becomes a celebrity in Brazil. Brazilian television network RedeTV! broadcasts the event. The reigning title holder is Larissa Sumpani.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Female toplessness in the United States</span>

In the United States, individual states have primary jurisdiction in matters of public morality. The topfreedom movement has claimed success in a few instances in persuading some state and federal courts to overturn some state laws on the basis of sex discrimination or equal protection, arguing that a woman should be free to expose her chest in any context in which a man can expose his. Other successful cases have been on the basis of freedom of expression in protest, or simply that exposure of breasts is not indecent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Awoulaba</span> Woman epitomising West African beauty standards

Awoulaba is a Baoulé-language term from Ivory Coast meaning "queen of beauty", which refers to women who have plump and curvaceous bodies featuring large buttocks and wide hips. An Awoulaba is characterized by having buttocks that are visibly fuller and plumper compared to the rest of her body, so that her body resembles a distinctive "guitar shape". Ivorian photographer Joana Choumali describes Awoulaba as "beautiful women of impressive dimensions: a face with fine features, large breasts, a well-defined waist and, above all, big buttocks".

References

  1. Cassidy, W.G. (September 1974). "Private parts: A judicial view". Southerly (law essay). Vol. 34, no. 3. Sydney, AU. pp. 315–319 via informit.com.au.
  2. Brown, Janelle (28 May 2002). "Booty call: Here come the buns". Salon.com . Archived from the original on 19 February 2006. Retrieved 12 March 2006.
  3. d'Angelo, Jennifer (5 December 2001). "Cleavage fashion flips upside down". Fox News (FOXNews.com). Archived from the original on 5 February 2011. Retrieved 12 March 2006.
  4. Daugherty, Gina (29 May 2003). "Thong spotting gets easier". The Cincinnati Enquirer . Archived from the original on 31 July 2012. Retrieved 19 February 2008 via enquirer.com.
  5. Davies, Anna (August 26, 2001). "Bum deal: Suddenly, women's bottoms are everywhere. It might seem like jolly, harmless fun, but actually there's nothing innocent about it". The Guardian . Archived from the original on April 10, 2021. Retrieved February 19, 2008 via theguardian.com.
  6. Jeffreys, Sheila (2005). Beauty and Misogyny: Harmful cultural practices in the West. Routledge. p. 98. ISBN   0-415-35183-9 via Google books.
  7. "High alert: We're all helpless onlookers to 'the Summer of butt cleavage'". Cosmopolitan . 17 July 2013 [16 July 2013]. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  8. Brewer's Dictionary of Modern Phrase & Fable, by John Ayto, Ian Crofton (2006), ISBN   0-304-36809-1, p. 121
  9. "French Expression of the Day". The Local.